So like I said before, I am on reserve this month which means that I just have days that I am available, and then days that I am off. On Friday afternoon I went and had my attorney friend Tricia draft my Last Will and Testament. Afterwards, we met up with her husband Mark (previously mentioned in the September blog about A Prairie Home Companion) and went to dinner. We had every intention of watching a movie after we got our pizza, but when I called in I had a trip assigned for the next day, and it signed in at 0500, which if I had a choice I would rather eat my own foot than get up at 3:00am to go to work. However, there was some good news in all of this, and that was the 19 hour layover in Tampa. I called my friend Jonathan and left a message that I would be coming to town and hoping we could get together.
The main reason I was so glad to get a Tampa trip was because I have been wanting to go and see my friend Bruce. He had an accident and broke his ankle, fibula, and tibia, on top of artery damage. Bruce's doctor described the injury as catastrophic and that he came close to having to amputate the foot. I've been quite worried.
I arrived in Tampa around 1pm and Jonathan picked me up at the airport. He and his wife Wendy were kind enough to let me stay with them, so I did not bother checking in to the hotel. We drove right out to Riverview to see Bruce and his wife Jen (who is pregnant). I was a little taken aback when I saw Bruce's leg. I had seen pictures, but to see it in person was quite intense. He has steel rods in his leg and foot to keep everything in place.
We sat and visited for a while. They have a bird named Houdini that lets himself out of his cage and flies around the house (which freaked me and Jonathan out) and then when he is done, he lets himself back in to the cage.
Bruce is going back in for more surgery tomorrow to do the final repair work on his foot. After that he has 8-12 weeks of recovery before he will be able to walk unassisted again. I am of course keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well tomorrow.
When we were done with out visit, we stopped for tacos and then went to Davis Island, where Jon's in-laws live. They have a flat panel HDTV so we went there to watch the FSU-Miami football game. (I commented that it was 13 years ago this month that I drove down to Miami to go to the football game with Jonathan, during our freshman year of college - gosh, I am old.)
His friend Justin came over (former college roommate) as well as Jon's wife Wendy, their kids, and another friend, Brenda.
When the game was over (FSU gave it up to Miami at the very end - 38-29) we headed back to Jon and Wendy's house to cook out. Since I was going to be sleeping in their son Jake's room, they sent him to Jon's parents house so I got to have a quick visit with Mr. and Mrs. Brill as well. For dinner we had steaks, baked potatoes and veggies. It was pleasant enough so we sat outside. All in all, I thought it was a nice way to end the day.
Of course since I had been up since 3:00am, I was exhausted so I slept like a log. This morning Jonathan took me to the airport and after a flight to New York and then Nashville, I finally made it home.
As much as I complain and b!tch about my reserve months, every now and then you get a fantastic trip like this one.
And finally, a shout out to my friend Brucie. He finally made mention into the blog! I just wish it wasn't because of a catastrophic foot injury.
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